Ankita_Raina

Ankita Raina

Ankita Raina

Indian tennis player (born 1993)


Ankita Ravinderkrishan Raina (born 11 January 1993)[2] is an Indian professional tennis player. Since 2018, she has regularly been the Indian number one in both singles and doubles.

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Raina has won one title on the WTA Tour and one WTA 125 tournament (both in doubles), along with 11 singles and 25 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. In April 2018, she entered the top 200 in the singles rankings for the first time, becoming only the fifth player representing India to achieve this feat.[3][4] Raina has also won gold medals in the women's singles and mixed-doubles events at the 2016 South Asian Games, and a bronze medal in singles at the 2018 Asian Games. Raina is one of only two women representing India who have won a WTA Tour-level title.

Playing for India Fed Cup team, Raina has a win–loss record of 30–24.[5] She has notable wins over 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur,[6] Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki,[7] former world No. 5 Sara Errani, and multiple doubles grand slam winner Barbora Strýcová.[8]

Personal life

Raina was born in the Indian state of Gujarat to Kashmiri Pandit parents Lalita Raina[9] and Ravinder Kishen Raina. She was born and brought up in Ahmedabad before moving to Pune, Maharashtra at the age of 14 as Pune had a better infrastructure and opportunities to develop professional tennis players; the decision was made based on her performance at the Asians 14 and under masters tournament in Melbourne, where she placed second.[10] Raina briefly studied at Brihan Maharashtra and is fluent in Hindi, Kashmiri, Gujarati, and English.[citation needed]

At the national events, Raina has represented her home state Gujarat. Her idols growing up were Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, and Sania Mirza.[citation needed]

Raina trains at the Hemant Bendrey Tennis Academy at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana in Pune.[citation needed]

Career

Raina playing in the qualifying at the 2018 French Open – her first Grand Slam tournament

2008–16: Junior career

Raina started playing tennis at the age of five. From a young age she has been coached by Hemant Bendrey, who recognized her strong discipline and mentality.[11] Following a promising junior career, Raina made her first professional appearance in 2009, at a small ITF tournament in Mumbai. In 2010, she continued to participate in local ITF events with limited success. Raina's 2011 season saw her advance to three ITF Circuit finals in doubles, winning one with countrywoman Aishwarya Agrawal. In 2012, she won her first professional singles title in New Delhi and won three more in doubles. This was followed by a few years of mediocre results on the ITF Women's Circuit.[citation needed]

2017–19: Breakthrough

Raina won two matches at the Mumbai Open, advancing to the quarterfinal. This would turn out to be her breakthrough tournament. In April 2018, she reached a ranking of world No. 181, after winning a $25k title, becoming the fifth Indian national to crack to the top-200 ladies singles rankings, following Nirupama Sanjeev, Sania Mirza, Shikha Uberoi, and Sunitha Rao.[12]

In August 2018, Ankita won the bronze medal in the Asian Games at Jakarta, Indonesia in singles event. Raina and Sania Mirza are the only players representing India to have won a singles medal at the Asian Games.[13] Later that year, she won the biggest doubles title of her career at the Taipei Challenger, partnering with compatriot Karman Kaur Thandi.[14]

Following a loss at the Australian Open, Raina won a $25k title in Singapore, with a solid win over Arantxa Rus in the final.[15] At the Kunming Open, she got her first top-100 win, defeating Samantha Stosur, former US Open champion and top-10 player, scoring the biggest win of her career. At the French Open, Raina lost her first qualifying match to well-known American youngster Coco Gauff in two tight sets, despite playing well. She went on to reach the second qualifying rounds of both the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open, losing tight three-setters in both tournaments. In October 2019, Raina entered the top 150 doubles rankings for the first time, after reaching the finals of the Suzhou Ladies Open with partner Rosalie van der Hoek. She is now coached by Arjun Kadhe, who is also her trainer and hitting partner.[16][17]

2020–21: Grand Slam main-draw and Olympics debut

Raina had a disappointing result at the Australian Open, albeit she was unwell due to the Australian bushfires.[18] However, Raina found further doubles success by winning two back-to-back ITF titles in Nonthaburi alongside Bibiane Schoofs;[19] followed by reaching her first WTA Tour semifinal at the Thailand Open alongside Rosalie. This gave Raina a new career-high ranking of No. 119 in doubles. She also won two singles titles early on in 2020, one in Nonthaburi, and the other in Jodhpur, India.[20] Raina then helped India advance to the Fed Cup World Group 2 playoffs for the first time in history in April 2020 in Dubai, along with Sania Mirza, Rutuja Bhosale, Riya Bhatia and Sowjanya Bavisetti.[21] In the Fed Cup, Raina had put up a good fight and won the first set 6–1 against China's top player Wang Qiang, but lost the match in three tight sets.[citation needed]

Raina returned to competition at the resumption of the tour in September after a long hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; she suffered early exits in ITF tournaments she played in after the break. She then competed at the 2020 French Open qualifying where she advanced to the second round for the first time but lost to Kurumi Nara.[22] In December, Raina won the biggest ITF doubles title of her career at Dubai, alongside Ekaterine Gorgodze, and reached a new career-high doubles ranking of 117.[citation needed]

Raina competed in all the Grand Slam championships and the Olympics in 2021 but had first-round exits in all in doubles category. She competed mixed doubles only in Wimbledon but that too was a first-round exit. Raina began 2021 at the Australian Open, where she had her best performance at a major, losing in the third and final qualifying round to Olga Danilović. She then became the fourth player representing India to feature in the main draw of a Grand Slam championship (after Nirupama Mankad, Nirupama Sanjeev, and Sania Mirza), playing doubles alongside Mihaela Buzărnescu, losing in the first round.[23]

Raina won the first WTA Tour singles main-draw match of her career at the Phillip Island Trophy. She came from a break down in the third set to reel off the last six games for a 5–7, 6–1, 6–2 win over Elisabetta Cocciaretto.[24] She then lost to Kimberly Birrell. In doubles, Raina partnered with Kamilla Rakhimova to advance to her first WTA Tour level final, where they defeated the Russian pairing of Anastasia Potapova and Anna Blinkova.[25] With this victory, Ankita became the second Indian female after Sania Mirza to win a WTA title, and also the third Indian woman after Mirza and Shikha Uberoi to break into the top 100 of the WTA rankings, debuting at world No. 94 in doubles.[citation needed]

Her improved ranking allowed her to compete more regularly on the WTA Tour, albeit with limited success. At the Abierto Zapopan, Raina scored a victory over former world No. 5 and French Open finalist, Sara Errani,[26] before losing to Leonie Küng. At the French Open, she lost in the second qualifying round in singles, and the first round of the main draw in doubles. Raina enjoyed a strong grass-court season in doubles, reaching back to back semifinals at the Nottingham Open and Nottingham Trophy. At Wimbledon, she competed in all three events, losing in the first qualifying round of singles to Varvara Lepchenko and the first round of doubles and mixed doubles, partnering Lauren Davis and Ramkumar Ramanathan, respectively.[citation needed]

Sania Mirza's protected ranking of No. 9 meant that Raina and Mirza gained direct entry into the Tokyo Olympics in women's doubles. They lost in three sets in the first round to the Kichenok sisters, in spite of leading 6–0, 5–2.[citation needed]

Raina competed at the 2021 US Open, losing in the first round of singles qualifying to Jamie Loeb and the first round of doubles. This meant she had played in the main draw of doubles at all four major tournaments. She then won only one of her next seven matches in singles, to end the year outside the top 200. She also lost seven out of her eight doubles matches during this stretch.

For her achievements at the Asian Games and South Asian Games, Raina was conferred the Arjuna Award in 2021.

2022–2023

Raina's poor form from the end of 2021 carried into 2022, with her losing in the first qualifying round of the Australian open, and then, at and ITF tournament in Kazakhstan. As a result. she dropped out of the top 350 and returned to playing on the ITF Circuit. Her form improved in the second half of the season, and she won 18 of her last 27 matches to end the year. Her lone final of the season came in August, at a ITF event at Aldershot, losing to Chinese Taipei player Joanna Garland.

However, she was much more successful in doubles, reaching nine ITF Circuit finals, winning five of them.

Raina reached the semifinals of a $40k tournament in India in January, and the final of the tournament in Bangalore in March. She reached her second ITF final of the season in at the Jakarta $25k tournament, but lost again. These results propelled her close to the top 200, and she returned to a Grand Slam qualifying at the French Open, where she lost in the second round. She also competed in the first qualifying round at Wimbledon but lost again. Raina qualified for the main draw of the WTA 250 Poland Open, but lost to Jodie Burrage in a tight three-setter. She entered the WTA Prague Open the following week as lucky loser, and scored her first WTA Tour main-draw win of the season over former world No. 16, Barbora Strýcová.

At the 2023 US Open, Raina reached the final round of qualifying, but lost in straight sets to Mirjam Björklund. This was the second time Raina reached the final round of qualifying.[27]

Playing style

Raina won the gold medal in singles at the 2016 South Asian Games.

Raina is a steady baseliner who primarily relies on her speed and counterpunching abilities to outlast her opponents.[28] Her preferred surfaces are grass and hard court, as they are more suited to her game style.[29]

Sponsorship and equipment

In her junior years, Raina was helped by Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals to participate in overseas junior tournaments. Since then, she has been supported by Bharat Forge and Lakshya. Most recently, Raina has signed sponsorship deals with the Sports Authority of Gujarat and Yonex, and she is officially employed with ONGC.[30] Hence, Raina uses Yonex racquets and clothing.[citation needed] Adani Group is her current supporter.[citation needed]

In 2013, Raina met Narendra Modi, India's then-future prime minister, and officially was recognised under the Shaktidhoot scheme and hence became a part of India's goal of reaching Olympic podiums.[31]

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

Current through the 2023 French Open qualifying.

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Doubles

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WTA career finals

Doubles: 1 (title)

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More information Result, W–L ...

WTA Challenger finals

Doubles: 1 (title)

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ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 24 (11 titles, 13 runner–ups)

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More information Result, W–L ...

Doubles: 47 (27 titles, 20 runner–ups)

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Fed Cup participation

Singles

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Doubles

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Asian Games

Singles (bronze medal)

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Notes

  1. The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
  2. During the season, she did not play in the main-draw of any WTA Tour-level tournaments. However, she played at the Billie Jean King Cup, which is not counted as a played tournament but as matches counted.
  3. 2010: WTA ranking–804, 2011: WTA ranking–616, 2012: WTA ranking–314, 2013: WTA ranking–314.

References

  1. "'Restricting myself to just being home the whole time'". Archived from the original on 12 September 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  2. "Ankita Raina". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
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  4. "Ankita Raina becomes only third Indian woman tennis player to break into top 200 singles rankings". PTI. 10 April 2018. Archived from the original on 12 September 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  5. "Ankita Raina". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  6. "Ankita Raina ambushes Stosur in epic". Archived from the original on 12 September 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  7. "Indian tennis: Ankita Raina beats former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki on grass". Archived from the original on 12 September 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  8. "Prague: India's Raina outlasts Czech veteran Strycova in first round". Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  9. Srinivasan, Kamesh (3 February 2020). "Ankita Raina optimistic about getting to the next level". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  10. Rajput, Avinash (29 December 2009). "Mother of sacrifice". Pune Mirror. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  11. Vatsal Tolasaria, Indian Tennis Daily (27 April 2020). "Tennis: There were many talented players but Ankita Raina's hard work stood out, says coach Bendrey". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  12. Srinivasan, Kamesh (9 April 2018). "Ankita Raina in top-200". Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  13. "Ankita Raina settles for bronze at Asian Games". PTI. 23 August 2018. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  14. "WTA Chinese Taipei: Ankita, Karman Kaur clinch doubles trophy". Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  15. "Ankita Raina clinches first singles title of 2019". Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  16. "Ankita Raina – Bio". Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  17. Kumaraswamy, K. (4 October 2020). "Coach Kadhe puts Ankita Raina's progress in context". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  18. ""Felt uneasy", Ankita after qualification exit". Archived from the original on 12 April 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  19. "ITF Thailand: Ankita Raina in singles final, wins doubles title". Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  20. "Ankita Raina wins ITF title in Jodhpur". Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  21. "Sania Mirza, Ankita Raina guide India to maiden Fed Cup playoffs". Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  22. "Ankita Raina out of French Open qualifiers". Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  23. "Tomorrow is a New Day for Indian Sports as Ankita Raina Makes Her Australian Open Debut". Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  24. "Unranked Gadecki shocks Kenin in Phillip Island Trophy opener". Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  25. "Ankita Raina wins Phillip Island Trophy for first WTA doubles title". Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  26. "Ankita Raina stuns former World No. 5 Sara Errani in 2021 WTA Abierto Zapopan qualifier in Mexico". India Today. 7 March 2021. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  27. ""Not happy with the result, but happy with how I played" – Ankita Raina, as she bows out of US Open Qualifying after a fight". Indian Tennis Daily. 26 August 2023. Archived from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  28. "Ankita Raina Biography – Sportskeeda". Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  29. "Coach Kadhe puts Ankita Raina's progress in context". Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  30. Swamy, Narain (2 September 2015). "Game Changers". Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  31. "When Narendra Modi ended Ankita Raina's travel worries". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2021.

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